Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.54.23
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ku-matiḥ
—
foolish (lit. of bad mind)
Ku (bad) + mati (intellect). The exact opposite of su-mati. In Gauḍīya prayer-language, kṛṣṇa-bhakta-mati is the highest mati; ku-mati is its absence. Rukmī shows what mati becomes when it refuses Kṛṣṇa.
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apramāṇa-vit
—
not knowing the dimensions
A- (not) + pramāṇa (measure, proof) + vid (knower). One who does not know the standard of measure. The Lord is the original pramāṇa (cf. BG 7.7, 'matataḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti'). To not know His pramāṇa is to live, like Rukmī, without an instrument that could ever read Him.
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govindam
—
to Lord Kṛṣṇa (lit. one who gives pleasure to the cows / senses / earth)
Go (cows / senses / earth) + vinda (giver of pleasure). The name Brahmā gives Kṛṣṇa at the end of His abhiṣeka in SB 10.27. Vyāsa uses the most affectionate of Kṛṣṇa's names in the moment of Rukmī's challenge — softening the air around what is about to happen.
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tiṣṭha-tiṣṭha
—
stand and fight (lit. 'stand, stand')
Doubled imperative of √sthā. The doubling is the demon's bravado. The Bhāgavatam echoes the same doubling in praise-contexts (jaya jaya); here it is challenge.
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vikatthamānaḥ
—
boasting
Present participle of vi-√kath, 'to boast.' The Bhāgavatam catalogues this as one of the eight āsuri-sampat traits at SB 11.5.8. Boasting is rakṣas in seed; bhakti's antithesis is dīna-bhāva, the mood of being-poor before the Lord.
It appears from these verses that though Rukmī set out with an entire military division, he personally rushed up to Lord Kṛṣṇa to fight with Him.
Vikatthamānaḥ means speaking badly, or boasting. He was foolish (kumatiḥ). And he was ignorant of the Lord’s glories. Fooling Balarāma by taking another path, he was with one chariot. He called to fight personally with Kṛṣṇa alone in great pride, since he had left all the troops far behind. avasthāpya ca tat sainyaṁ rukmī mada-balānvitaḥ / cikīrṣur dvairathaṁ yuddham abhyayān madhusūdanam // With great pride Rukmī, in the midst of his army, called to Kṛṣṇa, desiring combat between the two chariots. Hari-vaṁśa Govinda means bhagavān who has directly appeared on earth (go). The word Kṛṣṇa which appeared later in the text will have a similar meaning. His repeating “Stop, stop” indicates he foolishness.
- Where have you challenged a force you couldn't measure?
- How does scripture caution you about going alone against the Lord's representatives?
Like a child trying to scoop the sea into a cup, Rukmī attempts to measure the Immeasurable with one chariot. The verse turns on apramāṇa-vit — 'not knowing the dimensions' — the precise theological diagnosis of every quarrel humans pick with the Lord.
My note
Source: vedabase.io